DPSS ePolicy

Revision of existing policy and/or form(s).

Changes are shown highlighted in gray throughout the document.

The Appeals and State Hearings Section is responsible for the review of the appropriateness of each State Hearing request to determine if it can be resolved at the lowest possible administrative level without a hearing, while also protecting the claimant’s due process rights. 

The claimant or authorized representative (AR) may withdraw their State Hearing request any time before a hearing decision is adopted and signed by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) Director or their designee. A withdrawal may be unconditional (straight withdrawal [WD]) or conditional. 

Such withdrawal shall be submitted in writing. If the claimant has orally withdrawn the hearing request prior to the hearing, and such withdrawal is straight with no conditions, CDSS’ State Hearing Division (SHD) will send the claimant/Authorized Representative (AR) a letter confirming the withdrawal of the request. The letter shall serve as the written withdrawal. The hearing request will be considered withdrawn unless SHD receives notice, either in writing or verbally, within 15 calendar days from the date the withdrawal confirmation letter is mailed, stating that the claimant does not wish to withdraw the request.

If the action or inaction for which a State Hearing was requested is incorrect, a Conditional Withdrawal (CWD) is negotiated with the claimant and the County will be bound by the agreement to make the correction within 30 calendar days from the date the signed Withdrawal Request for Hearing form (DPA 315) is received by the County or the day the withdrawal is confirmed by the State. This confirmed CWD agreed upon action, alleviates the need for a State Hearing. 

With the implementation of CDSS’ Appeals Case Management System (ACMS) (September 17, 2018), the process to confirm both WDs and CWDs was expanded to include CDSS’ Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system.

If the claimant/AR doesn’t confirm a WD or CWD via the IVR, or ACMS or provides written confirmation (signed DPA 315) before the hearing day, the case will proceed to the hearing phase.

Reference: CDSS Manual of Policies and Procedures (MPP) 22-054.2.

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The claimant may request a straight WD of their hearing request. Some of the reasons include but are not limited to: 

1. The State does not have jurisdiction to address the issue, and it was explained to the claimant, and they opt to withdraw their appeal;
2. The claimant no longer disputes the action taken;
3. The hearing was requested in error; or
4. The issue is resolved by the district/regional/contracted (includes MAXIMUS, Cal-Learn, Refugee Employment Program [REP] and Resource and Referral/Alternative Payment Program [R&R] agencies) office prior to the scheduled hearing.

The claimant may agree to a CWD. Some of the reasons include, but are not limited to:

1. Unavailability of case record or pertinent documents;
2. Inadequate Notice of Action (NOA), (i.e. untimely, wrong dates, missing overpayment/overissuance [OP/OI] calculations);
3. Unsubstantiated County actions (e.g., no documentation on California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS)/Case Management Information and Payrolling System (CMIPS) II, does not have the “5 w’s” – who, what, when, where, why);
4. Conflicting or discrepant information in the case record (e.g., verification scanned on CalSAWS Imaging Solution (CIS) but not updated correctly on CalSAWS/CMIPS II);
5. Verification provided to the County with proof of receipt, yet information not updated nor imaged to CIS/Crooze/Box document library;
6. Lack of corroborating evidence in the case record (i.e., action is documented in the CalSAWS Journal or CMIPS II Case Notes; however, the required evidence cannot be located in CIS/Crooze/Box); or
7. Misapplication of regulations by the County.

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